It's funny how memory warps reality around the most inconsequential of things. In baseball that can turn bit players into mountainous heroes, and for me, no one fits that bill more than Charlie Hayes. One of my first real baseball memories is Hayes catching the last out of the 1996 World Series and for some reason that image has stuck with me, turning an otherwise forgettable participant into an icon. It's only been in my adulthood that I've been able to realize the truth and laugh about how silly my mind has portrayed him.
Background
Hayes was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round of the 1983 MLB Draft, the same year as Roger Clemens and (just for fun) only a few picks before Mike Trout's dad, Jeff Trout, was selected.